No credit is due to me on this score Antony. As a result of a number of the contributors wanting to contribute more than the original requested amount, the pot soon rocketed to a value where we could start looking for a replacement DX8 as well as the heli. Gaz knew someone who was selling up for personal reasons, and he got a really great deal on a second hand, nearly new, practically as new, DX8. Any credit with regard to sourcing such a great deal on the DX8 goes to Gaz. All I did was facilitate the transaction, which was of course funded by us all, collectively. Even in terms of getting it unregistered, all I have done is ring Gaz and ask him to contact the seller, as he knows him personally, and asked him to unregister it, lol.

Looks like the rain has finally stopped and my new locks for the van just arrived.

I got the new lock set plus ignition barrell. The new keys don't appear to have a chip for the OEM immobiliser, so I hope it doesn't screw that up, or could mean more money getting new keys cut that have a chip, for brand new locks!! Madness Still it will work out cheaper than paying a garage to do it.

Hopefully, if the installation goes well and the rain holds off, I'll be out later on this afternoon. Told my brother his kitchen will have to wait another day, and I'll catchup over the weekend

New locks fitted. Feeling very happy with myself, and no problems with the immobiliser. So upside of that is I might have some money left over to get some spares ordered this week

There was a residual amount leftover from the collection which Sutty has sent to me, so should see me right for a spare set of umbrella gears or TT's.

@Sutty, sounds like it was me who was having a moment, didn't realise you were talking DX7 speak My bad then! Funnily enough, that landing gear has just come back in stock, but no sign of the upgraded clutch being re-stocked. Think I'll give FL's a quick call to see when it's expected. If not due in soon, I'll just go with the stock clutch so I can have it ready for the FFF weekend

Just found the Super Heavy Duty Lynx Heli Innovations clutch was in stock, so ordered one of those for the 600N (It was the quick uk upgrade that was out of stock).

Hopefully will give the 600N another test run this weekend, but only if I have someone knowledgable to work through it with me. Don't want to ruin another one at £30 a pop!

Ordered the landing gear, front and rear umbrella gears and a few spare TT's. Just realised I could probably do with some main gears as they have a different ratio Ah well, will save that for next time.

Just looked up, and it's raining again!! Might just be a shower, so going to head out anyway and hope it stops by the time I get there.

I was beaten by the rain It stopped for a few hours this afternoon, but I had to finish the van and get some running around done. By the time I arrived at the field, the rain had just beaten me to it. If I could have got 2 or 3 miles north, I think I would have been fine. I could clearly see out of the edge of the storm. Only problem is it is heavily populated over that way, so less fields/more people per sq mile, and a heck of alot of traffic. Here's the view I had from the window....

I sat and waited at the field for 30 mins, watching the weather incase it passed by. Decided to try and find another field, but by this time it was right in the middle of rush-hour. Felt like somekind of frustrated storm chaser, getting pelted by rain in the van, trying to get ahead of it. To make matters worse, they are digging all the roads up round here at the moment, building a new light transport system to the airport, so the roads are a knightmare as it is. Eventually, gave up after sitting in traffic for 10mins and moving about 200yrds. Would have been dark by the time I got to where I wanted to go at that rate, so I turned around and came home.

I did manage a quick test earlier, to check cyclic pitch and headspeed. The helitach app recorded an average of 3020rpm hovering in idle 1 (about 93% throttle). I checked this with the headspeed calculator in heliport, that says I should be getting approx 3120, which I think is close enough. Idel 2 mode is approx 3300rpm hovering (about 97% throttle), heliport said I should be getting about 3328rpm. So I was fairly happy with those results, and can forget about it for now.

The cyclic pitch seems way too much when I measured with the pitch gauge, >+/-15 degrees! I'm going to check this again later, as I had upped the swashmix to 70%. But I've only hovered it, not actually 'flown it' to check the responsiveness of the new settings, so that is still a work in progress tweaking to my liking.

Flew for about 2 mins testing it in the garden, and I think I took off/landed 3 or 4 times. I did notice the motor seemed really hot for only 2 mins of flight. Wondered if this maybe because of the heat build-up during spool up, or could it be the sign of a problem elsewhere? Main gear mesh seemed ok, rotor head spins as freely as I could ever imagine. Couldn't get my fat pinky in to feel the ESC temp. It is tucked very neatly away under the battery tray, so I wasn't sure how hot it was. If the problem is still prevolent next time I fly it, then I may consider moving the ESC to the side of the frame under the main gear, so it gets some better cooling from the fan.

Well, I gotta get back to work tomorrow, but I am going to have a shot at getting out early before work. Will let you know how that goes tomorrow night!!

Crashed it!! Got it on video so will upload it this evening. Was all going well upto that point.

Broke landing gear, fly bar, main and feathering shafts bent, front umbrella gears lost a few teeth. Think that is all!

Thanks to the rain soaked soft ground, looks like main gear, blades, TT and tail output shaft survived. Managed to level it, hit TH and bail out after i lost orientation, so it went in landing gear first and then onto its side.

Well, here goes....it was the maiden trip to the field with some tweaks, but actually 3rd pack of the morning.

Had some fly buzzing around annoying me. I paused at 2m54s and can just see a little black spec on the LH side of the screen, 4 seconds later it returned and flew straight into my LH nostril, just as I was flipping it upside down again. My natural reaction was to remove the offending obstacle from my nasel passage, and it just distracted me for a fraction of a second. I remeber lifting my left hand from the throttle stick for a moment, but I put it back on as I realised I had to save the heli!

Other than that incident, the previous 2 packs went really well. Better than what I expected after not flying for a good few weeks! Was starting to feel comfortable at the sticks at least before this happened.

Least most of the spares were already ordered. Realised I hadn't ordered main shafts for the pro, as I had 3 shafts leftover from the V2. Was going to check on compatibility this weekend, but just incase I called FL's and they told me tell me they are not compatible with the PRO, so I got them added to yesterdays order, which is being posted today. So I should have both finished for weekend. Didn't think I'd be saying that so soon

Think I will take this re-build opportunity with the PRO to relocate the ESC, as I checked the motor temp after the first pack and it was fine this time - cool to touch infact. I could then reach the ESC without burning my finger on a hot motor, and the ESC is a little warm. I don't like the idea of having a heat source so close to the battery, so would prefer the ESC to go under the main gear fan where it will get some better cooling.

Real bummer Denis, but you can only crash if you're flying, so in one regard it is nice to hear that you were out there, giving it what for, and having a good time, before the inevitable crash. By inevitable I only mean it had to have its first crash one day. I look at it this way, there are only two types of RC heli, those that have crashed, and those that are going to. At least it is out of the way, and you will soon have her in the air again.

I hate it when flies, or insects of any description for that matter, come and bug me, pun intended. I usually try and punch high before dealing with them, either way up, but when they get you mid move it can be a real bugger. Don't think I have ever actually crashed as a result, but for sure I have been close.

Good luck with the repair, and relocation. By the way, my ESC is under the battery tray, but I have no idea how hot it gets, as it is the full ICE50, so I assumed it to be fine, so never checked it. One thing is for sure, it can't get banged very easily under there, but I agree the cooling can't be that good. Where does the manual show it? Not easy to locate things in a 450pro, they are really narrow inside.

@Tom, the pitch range of +/-12 feels ok with the headspeed @ 3000rpm in idel 1, nice and responsive but not too much (it is just slightly more responsive than what the V2 used to be).

Idel 2 mode is 3300rpm, and with +/-12 it is too twitchy for my skills at the moment. Decided I'll tweak the swashmix to get +/-11 next. If that is still too responsive, I will keep the pitch range at +/-11, but reduce the idel up 1&2 throttle curves to 98% max. That way I should acheive +/-11 in idel 2 with the headspeed backed down to around 3200rpm (which is the headspeed the V2 used to run at, but with a pitch range of +/-10). Good thing is it's all easily tweakable with the comp TX

And thanks for the comments, felt nice flying round doing those inverted piro's, was actually able to control where it was going this time. Felt the mobius 8's and piro flips need a bit more practice or sharpening up again. It did feel good just to be out there again.

@Sutty - Yeah, bit of bummer, but I'm not phased by it. The damage wasn't too bad, the spares are already on the way, and most important, I won't miss out on taking both it and the 600 to the club this weekend. If that fly didn't get up my nose, then I would have carried on like that, pushing it a little bit more till the end of the pack. I still hadn't got to tic-tok practice, and I'm looking forward to trying a 4 point tic-tok on the PRO. I think the TT will make a confidence boosting difference to my 1 and only previous attempt - that I tried on the last video'd flight of the V2, but was just off screen.

@Gaz - totally happy with it. Very appreciative that Mr Cooper took the time out of his hectic schedule to get it built for little old me!! The ESC location is exactly by the book/manual. I guess I'm just a bit OCD on these little things, it is only a 35A Align ESC, not like my old 45A Scorp or 50A Ice!! Will just have to see how this new 35A ESC handles the abuse I give it over the long term, as I do plan on doing harder 3D stuff with it. It definately has a better Soft Start than my old Scorp, but I need to re-familiarise myself with how to program them, not that I'm checking up on Grant Think I have to do it by the stick postion and beep-beep method if I remember right, and I sometimes used to acidentally re-program it with the DX6i, by sometimes having the stick above mid position when turning on the TX (If I landed the last pack with TH for example ). Just thought, might not happen now I have a DX8 again, as you get the high throttle warning when you first switch the TX on

Just want to say, thanks again everyone It's great to be back out there with the little beater. The DX8 is fantastic with it's vibrating alarm and limitless programming features. I am now literally itching to get the 600 going Decided if I get it tuned this weekend (and the gyro may need a tweak on gain), I'm banning myself from trying any 3D stuff, but will aim to try and flip it, roll it and get an inverted hover out of it (high up of course ), just to get a feel for the controls and responsiveness.